


Shaped From Belief

by idrilhadhafang



Series: The Redemption of Armitage Hux [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alderaan feels, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Armitage Hux Has Feelings, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux Redemption, Armitage Hux is Not Nice, Awesome Leia Organa, Character Development, Families of Choice, Gen, Hux Gets Called Out For The Hosnian System, KOTOR Gets Shoehorned In For A Brief Moment, Past War crimes, Poe Dameron & Armitage Hux Friendship, Poe Dameron Is Not An Asshole, Protective Finn (Star Wars), Protective Poe Dameron, Resistance Member Armitage Hux, Space Mom Leia Organa, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Tags Contain Spoilers, Team as Family, To begin with, as he Deserves, heel realization, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21961144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Even a vicious, rabid cur can have things he prefers to hide.
Relationships: Armitage Hux & Leia Organa, Finn & Armitage Hux, Poe Dameron & Armitage Hux
Series: The Redemption of Armitage Hux [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580974
Comments: 1
Kudos: 90
Collections: Genprompt Bingo Round 17





	Shaped From Belief

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Vicious
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: I was torn between thinking that plot twist with Hux was ridiculous and thinking it had a lot of potential.

  
The ice in the others’ glares as Hux stepped on the solid ground of the Rebel Base were all but palpable. That wasn’t what bothered Hux. Not as much as the fact that the traitor and Dameron were kind to him. The traitor had refused to leave him behind, even after Hux had nearly had him executed. And Dameron...somehow knew he was the spy.   
  
Hux couldn’t say he could process it. Another reason he could ignore the jeers and anger of the crowd surrounding them. There was still so much that was just puzzling...  
  
***  
  
“Of all the people in the First Order to be a spy, I should have assumed it was you.” General Organa paused as she spoke. They were in the command center, and Hux didn’t miss that look from the Lieutenant, Kaydel Ko Connix. That look like he was the dung that one would accidentally step in in Mos Eisley. Hux had faced worse mockery from his father (killing the bastard was too good for him). This lieutenant with a ridiculous hairstyle barely fazed him.   
  
General Organa continued. “Poe speculated. I suppose I owe him a few credits.”  
  
“Really? Interesting.”  
  
General Organa sighed. “There are, of course, things we can’t overlook. What you did to the Hosnian system.”  
  
“They were lying about their true allegiance. You think I should have spared those loathsome cowards?”  
  
“Cowards?” General Organa said. “They seem like cowards to you? And who is the First Order then? Hiding in the Unknown Regions, using stealth instead of fighting outright...”  
  
“Would it not be intelligence?”  
  
“Any of it?” General Organa said.   
  
Silence. Hux wished that he could come up with the perfect speech for the General’s self-righteous foolishness. Hux had always had a gift for words. If not for him, people wouldn’t want anything to do with that petulant fool, Ren.   
  
(Hux didn’t know how two Rebel idiots had given birth to a First Order idiot. Perhaps he could find out)  
  
“You don’t even know how many people there were in the Hosnian system. How many innocents you killed.” The way Leia looked at him...it was odd, Hux couldn’t help but think, seeing the obvious sort of loss in her eyes. One of the survivors of Alderaan. When Hux was growing up, he had believed that the Alderaanians had done something to deserve such a fate — after all, to his mind as a child, a weapon couldn’t be used on a planet unless the planet had done something to deserve it. An act of war. Even Saul Karath, the Butcher of Telos, had known that. _In war, even the innocent must die._ “Even children — ”  
  
“Don’t,” Hux snapped, “Use that obvious appeal to emotions on me. Has the Resistance been any better? Your favorite pilot blew up a planet.”  
  
“Your weapon,” Leia said, softly.   
  
There was something more behind her eyes, Hux couldn’t help but think. Like somehow, she thought she could get through to him. Where she couldn’t to Tarkin.   
  
Leia continued. “There were people who had family that you murdered.”  
  
“Of course there were,” Hux said. “It was the case of the Death Star too. There were widows and orphans that Skywalker left in his wake. Haven’t we all made our share of bloody decisions? And who gave him a medal for murder after that?”  
  
Leia sighed. “I wouldn’t have done it if Yavin wasn’t in danger.”  
  
“What I did,” Hux said, “To the Hosnian system was an act of war. A move in a game of dejarik.” It had helped that Snoke had simply wanted Skywalker annihilated. Fear. Fear was a powerful motivator, and Snoke’s decision had been soaked in it.   
  
Still, there was a part of Hux, a better part, that couldn’t help but wonder if his destruction of the Hosnian system was as righteous as he’d once thought. When he gave that speech to the stormtroopers before ordering the weapon to fire, he had been so sure of himself. He’d felt so _right._ He could remember how electric and alive he felt, finally managing to fire the weapon he’d put so much time into, and all for a good cause. To bring order to the galaxy. To bring down a corrupt Republic that did nothing for its citizens. To bring down the Resistance, who he’d seen at the time as monsters. He’d thought what he was doing was glorious. Even if it meant working with the insufferable Kylo Ren, but that was a small price to pay for glory and honoring a legacy.   
  
Now...Hux didn’t know exactly when he’d started to waver. He only knew he hated it. He was so used to feeling sure of himself. Certain in his beliefs. He’d been used to being angry, starting when he was a child (though he hadn’t wanted to admit it. Good boys didn’t hate their fathers) and only building up to now. Now, Armitage Hux, now thirty-five...had he been following the wrong path the whole time?   
  
Stars, how he hated Resistance vermin.   
  
Leia’s look was steady. Too steady, in Hux’s opinion. “Was it?” she said, evenly.   
  
Silence.   
  
“You’re not Tarkin,” Leia said. “What you’re doing is proof of that.”  
  
Hux snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just want Kylo Ren to lose.”  
  
“Nevertheless. This could be a chance for you,” Leia said. “A chance for you to be the man you should have been.”  
  
***  
  
She was kind enough to give him quarters, at least. Hux almost expected a cell with no windows. Stars willing the Resistance hated him enough. Hux couldn’t say he cared about the whispers and distrustful looks, though it did surprise him that Dameron told them there wouldn’t be anyone harassing Hux, and whoever tried would get fresher duty. It was an odd thing, being defended. It almost reminded Hux of Sloane, though she was long gone. Not that he missed her, or anyone for that matter.   
  
“Between this and the traitor,” Hux said, “I daresay you have too much compassion.”  
  
Dameron shrugged. “What’s wrong with that?”  
  
“It leaves you vulnerable. Ren...well, depending on which way the wind blows, he may spare somebody. But most likely he won’t. Compassion never served me well.” Hux took a deep breath. “You think now is an exception?”  
  
“It’s never too late to choose your path,” Dameron said. “I mean...you’ve done awful things. Don’t look at me; you have. But you have helped us.”  
  
“I didn’t do it for you,” Hux said impatiently.   
  
“Figured that. We still need your help. Enemy of my enemy and all that.”  
  
“You think we’re friends?” Hux said. Even that idea, thinking of the man who had destroyed his prize weapon and humiliated him in front of his officers, as a friend...well, the logical part of Hux knew it was ridiculous, a strange way to make friends. Still...he could use a friend. It would be nice, Hux thought, to have a friend.   
  
(Maybe it was that hurt child still inside Hux’s heart that he would have done anything to forget. Better to be hurting others than being hurt)  
  
Dameron tilted his head. “Do you want to be?”  
  
Hux sighed. “That’s...a question I haven’t thought of in some time. An ally, perhaps.”  
  
“Ally. I can get behind that. Just...say hi when you see me in the hallways, and sit with me, and just...yeah. Normalcy.”  
  
Hux raised an eyebrow. “That sounds more like friendship to me.”  
  
“That’s how we roll in the Resistance.”  
  
Hux would have almost preferred Dameron making fun of him. Dameron showing him kindness...he didn’t know what to do with that. It was something that simply didn’t happen.   
  
“Thank you,” Hux said. “I suppose.”  
  
Poe nodded. “No problem. I guess in a way, I owe you.”  
  
Poe left. Hux’s mind was already struggling to come to terms with what he’d just experienced. The idea — just an idea; it didn’t mean it was true — that everything he knew was wrong. The fact that the same man who had (unintentionally?) opened an old wound about his mother could also be his first friend in the Resistance. The idea of having friends. After all, Armitage Brendol Hux didn’t need friends. He didn’t need anyone. Yet...  
  
Hux sighed and opened the doors to his quarters. The fact the traitor had insisted Hux come with them, just to get away from Pryde, the fact that Dameron was being kind to him...he didn’t need these things. He didn’t need anyone. And yet somehow, he wanted it. What a chasm there was, between needing and wanting.   
  
Hux huffed in frustration even as he entered his new quarters. There was much to mull over. He could only hope that he didn’t die first.


End file.
